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By Emily, September 3, 2010 5:10 pm

Last week, Rachel Wilkerson challenged her readers to own the things they feel guilty about, especially if they’re not actually sorry.   Sometimes I get caught up in the health blogging world and don’t want to post everything I’ve cooked because not everything I’ve made is healthy.  But this is a food blog.  It’s not a health blog, or a vegetarian blog, or a weight loss blog.  It’s about what happens in my kitchen.  Granted, that’s usually healthy, vegetarian food because that’s what we usually eat.  But not always.

Everyone likes butter and fat and sweet treats.  But unlike some people I know, I haven’t cut them out of my diet.  Just because we don’t really eat meat, it doesn’t mean we don’t eat cookies.  Michael Pollan, author of Food Rules, says “Eat all the junk food you want as long as you cook it yourself.”.  It may be my favorite rule in the book.

I love making baked goods and comfort food.  And I’m not giving them up any time soon.

Two of my all time, absolute favorite food bloggers are Ree Drummond, the Pioneer Woman, and Deb Perelman of smitten kitchen.  Sorry I’m Not Sorry.

What sorts of recipes do these lovely women post?  From their “About” pages:  ”A lot of comfort foods stepped up a bit” (Deb) and “… all the cowboy-friendly dishes I’ve taught myself to cook through the years. There’s butter involved.” (Ree).   Their recipes are amazing and I’m going to continue making them.

That’s right:  no substitutions, agave, stevia, vegan cheese or fake butter here.  Just like grandma made ‘em.

So, with that said:

Wednesday I made Deb’s snickerdoodles.  It’s  the same recipe I used last September when I was out of work, which makes me wonder if they’re the official cookies of my unemployment.  Anyway, they’re awesome.  And I didn’t bother to halve the recipe.

Yesterday I made Mac and Cheese…and Panko a la Ree for dinner.  We ate about a third of it, and I expect the rest won’t last long.  The tomatoes make the dish.  (That’s summer squash in the background, I know it’s hard to tell.)  I hadn’t made mac and cheese for awhile and it’s so good!  By the way, once you start cooking for yourself, the stuff in the box with the powdery orange “cheese” doesn’t taste so great.

This morning I made the Peach Shortbread from smitten kitchen, for no other reason than it appeared in my Reader, I love peaches, we had peaches that were past their prime, and I didn’t have any other plans for the day.   There aren’t too many things I like better in this world than peaches or shortbread, so the recipe struck me as pretty genius.  Did I mention I’ve got time on my hands?

How do we do it?

We love our freezer, for one thing.  The cookies are hanging out there and we’re taking out a few every day to eat-a little trick I learned from my mother-in-law.  It’s the perfect way to always have fresh cookies.  Moderation still matters (but you knew that).

And I don’t always cook like this, only when I actually get some free time (thanks unemployment!).  Soon it’ll be back to vegetable soup, rice and beans, and pasta with tomato sauce.  But sometimes life (and meal planning) need a change of pace.  And I’m not going to not avoid posting something delicious because it’s not “healthy”.

I asked Brian the other day if we could open a bakery (because it’s as much about the creation as it is about the eating).  He said no.  So I guess I’ll just keep making things for the two of us.

I love making baked goods and comfort food.  And I’m not giving them up any time soon.

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By Emily, September 1, 2010 10:15 am

I am in love with galettes.  How did this happen?

A few weeks ago I needed to use up some zucchini and summer squash. (I know I’m not the only one with that problem.)  This 3-step recipe for a Summer Squash and Ricotta Galette from Serious Eats seemed like a nice change of pace from our standard pizza/calzone routine.

Two problems:

1. I’d never made a galette before and it looked a little tricky.
2. I have this thing about buying premade pie crust: I won’t do it. Why buy something you can make yourself?

So, I followed the link to the original Smitten Kitchen recipe (have I mentioned I love the internet?) and grabbed the pastry instructions.  This was the ultimate, beautiful, final result:

A few things to note:

1. It’s not that hard.  This was my first galette.  My first experience with this dough recipe.  It turned out fine.  If you’ve made any sort of dough before (pizza, cookie, pie), you can do this.  I think you get a lot of visual “bang” for your time and effort “buck”.  And I think the more I make this recipe, the more attractive it will become.
2. My Pastry Cutter is my friend.  I don’t know what I did without it (oh yes, made mediocre shortbread).
3. This recipe takes time.  If you make your own crust (and why wouldn’t you????), it needs to hang out in the fridge for at least an hour.  Baking the galette takes another 30-40 minutes.   So, you need to plan ahead if you want to make this.  At the same time, most of the time needed is unattended.
4. The crust is flaky, buttery, amazing and addicting.  Consider yourself warned.
5. The recipe is supposed to serve 6.  In our house, it was more like 2.  It was that good (and we were that hungry?)

Fast forward to a couple weeks later:

I stumble upon this recipe for Zucchini and Sun Dried Tomato Pesto Parmesan Tart on Closet Cooking.  It looks pretty darn delicious.

One problem: I have this thing about buying premade puff pastry dough: I won’t do it (this time because I think it’s over-priced).

Solution: make another galette:

The same Smitten Kitchen crust, filled with the ingredients from the Closet Kitchen recipe.  So good.  Making the dough the second time was even easier than the first and I thought it was better looking. too.

Employment Update:

So…I didn’t get the job.  I’ve recovered pretty well from the initial shock and, instead of the first day of school I was looking forward to, I’m spending the day reorganizing my recipe binder (a “summer” project), baking cookies, cleaning up the apartment, perhaps doing some behind the scenes blog work, watching Veronica Mars on Netflix and pondering what my next move might be.  Last year, despite initial unemployment, I was working everyday starting in October.  Things have a habit of working out, even if not the way initially planned.

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By Emily, April 27, 2010 8:49 pm

Nothing I have done in the past 16 months of changing my eating habits has aroused as much suspicion and curiosity as my decision to make vegan brownies last weekend.

Yes, you read that right: I made vegan brownies.  No milk, no butter, no eggs.

I didn’t start out with the intention of doing something “crazy”.  One of our friends was coming to visit for the weekend and Brian suggested that it might be nice to have something in the house for dessert (and I think we both wanted to overload on sugar, given our recent day without).  That idea led to brownies, which, it was decided, should be made from scratch.  Then I remembered that I had saved a recipe for vegan brownies which had appeared on No Meat Athlete awhile back.

Bless my poor husband, he actually let me make them, despite the fact that (and he literally just admitted this to me) they sounded “vile”.

Christine’s recipe for Black Bean Brownies may be vegan, but fear not– there’s plenty of sugar, cocoa, hazelnuts and instant coffee contained within.  And, as the name suggests, a can of black beans for moisture, texture and…protein?  I followed the directions, poured the batter into a pan and half an hour later, produced my first vegan black bean brownies.

I was so pleased with my creation (okay, Christine’s creation that I made) that I shared the news with my mother.  “What’s the point of vegan brownies?” she inquired.  I replied with something about using less animal products and that some people are vegan and that it was an experiment.  Then I convinced her that I wasn’t vegan, but I think that just confused the issue more.

When our friend Josh arrived (bringing, ironically, brownies) we made him try one, without warning him about the vegan-ness.  He ate that one, and several more over the course of the weekend.

Why?  Because they’re surprisingly delicious. And, if I didn’t tell you, you wouldn’t know they were vegan.  Would I make them again?  Probably.

Still, I may wait a few weeks before I try making White Bean Blondies.

Have an interesting recipe to share?  Ever trick anyone into eating vegan?

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By Emily, April 18, 2010 5:04 pm

As some of you know, I’ve been participating in the Outside the Box Challenge, which has encouraged me to make new things, use new ingredients, change my workout and think more  about what I eat.  This week’s challenge was to use an herb you haven’t for a while and report on how it went.  I made three different recipes using fresh tarragon (I always never use fresh herbs), and thought I’d share my favorite.

(I know it looks blurry, there was a lot of steam)

The best things about this recipe for Chicken Tarragon from AllRecipes:

• 10 ingredients, 9 of which I didn’t need to go to the store for
• 35 minutes
• 1 skillet, 1 baking dish, knives, and couple cutting boards are all the dishes you need.

I love dishes where you throw everything in the oven and it all cooks together.  I’m not even sure it was necessary to brown the chicken (confession: I used turkey breast–it’s what I had!)…mine didn’t really brown and it still tasted good.  Plus, we’re getting 2 meals worth of vegetables out of the recipe.  I’ll probably try it out again, perhaps using different vegetables and herbs to see what I can create.  If you’re looking for an easy dinner, I’d definitely check out the recipe.

Side note: there wasn’t any grain in this recipe, so I decided to make another side.  Brian suggested I use up the container of Israeli couscous that’s been sitting in our pantry forever.  I decided to attempt a cheaper, less fresh, version of Giada’s Mediterrean Salad, which is still one of my favorite things.  I prepared a dressing of lemon juice, dried basil, pressed garlic and salt, poured it over the cooked couscous and added a handful of dried cranberries.  Despite missing the fresh basil and lacking mint and almonds entirely, the pasta tasted amazingly similar to the original dish.  Now we need to get more Israeli couscous so I can eat this all the time!

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By Emily, March 31, 2010 5:56 am

I know it’s officially spring, but I’m continuing to make soup until it’s too hot to eat it.  Plus it’s been disgustingly cold and rainy all week, which is definitely soup weather.

Sunday night’s creation was an incredibly simple Tuscan White Bean Soup, the recipe for which was featured in The Atlantic about a month ago.  It couldn’t have taken me more than half an hour to prepare, it’s vegetarian (if you substitute veggie broth for the chicken) and I’m a sucker for anything with cannellini beans.  Or garlic.

I exchanged the cream for half and half, because sometimes I don’t see the point in buying cream for just one recipe (but sometimes I do). And, because I almost never have fresh herbs, I used dried thyme.

Simple, and yet surprisingly good.  I don’t think Brian was quite as enamored as I was, but I really, really loved the taste of this soup (It’s adapted from a Giada de Laurentiis recipe–what’s not to love?).  The only thing that I would’ve changed was that the soup could’ve used a little more bulk…which got me thinking about potatoes…which got me thinking about a soup I made months ago and never posted about…

Every issue of Food Network Magazine comes with a little booklet of 50 recipes. One month it was mashed potatoes, another it was cookies. In one issue (October 2009) it was “50 Easy Soups”. Clearly, I wasn’t complaining.  I tried out  #16: Potato Chowder.

Almost to my surprise, this basic chowder from Food Network of all places,  did not disappoint.  I cut down on the fat a bit by using turkey bacon (which was a new experience in and of itself) and the chowder was still awesome.  The recipe also serves as a base for  Potato Cheese Soup (#17), Clam Chowder (#18), Corn Chowder (#19), and Fish Chowder (#20).

So…2 similar soups.  Granted, its been a while since I made the chowder, but I think if I had to pick one to add to my regular repertoire it would be the Tuscan White Bean Soup, though I’d probably add potatoes.  It’s vegetarian, there are beans, and you don’t have to deal with the chore of washing leeks.  I’m still not even sure I like leeks, though I’ve used them several times now.  I’d just as soon have onions.  The White Bean Soup is lighter, but there’s nothing wrong with that.

Enjoy–not too many days of soup eating remain! (Who am I kidding?  I’ll probably eat soup all summer!)

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By Emily, March 21, 2010 7:11 pm

As I mentioned this morning, yesterday was just an awesome day.  The awesomeness culminating in a meal so good I could barely believe I’d cooked it.  I make a lot of so-so recipes, but last night’s broccoli lasagna was perfect.

I used Real Simple’s recipe for Three Cheese Broccoli Lasagna.  Often Real Simple recipes (at least the ones in their emails) don’t really appeal to me, but since lasagna is one of Brian’s favorite foods, I grabbed the recipe and added it to my Evernote account.  Yesterday I decided to try it (it helped that mozzarella and ricotta were on sale).  It was the first time I’d made lasagna and I realized I cheated a little by using no-boil noodles (in my defense: the recipe says to!) but it’s really not that hard, and this recipe’s definitely worth it.

I’m sure that the recipe would be great as written, but I decided to make one change and take it a step further by making my own marinara sauce.  Slashfood posted a recipe for All-Purpose Marinara back in September and this seemed a good opportunity to try it out.  I halved the recipe because I knew it was going to make way too much sauce, substituted petite diced tomatoes for whole and used less chili flakes than suggested (I didn’t measure).  I only simmered it for an hour or so.  The sauce has nice spice to it and halving the recipe provided us with about 6 cups of deliciousness.  I froze the sauce we didn’t use for the lasagna and look forward to defrosting it for pasta or some other creation.

In short: Delicious vegetarian lasagna, made even better by homemade sauce.

That, and the fact that it was such a beautiful day out that Brian and I enjoyed our supper outside on our balcony.  Hopefully that’ll happen a frequently over the next 6 months or so.

Enjoy!

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By Emily, March 17, 2010 7:19 pm

I don’t eat meat too often anymore.  I almost never buy beef.

But there are reasons to make exceptions, and St. Patrick’s Day is one of them.

I’m a little bit Irish, but if you want to be technical, I just love corned beef.  I used to make my mother make it every year, even though some of my other family members weren’t big fans.  We never had cabbage.

I had never actually made corned beef myself before.  My best friend and I made it once in college, but she did the cooking.  And my husband says he has never even had corned beef! (If he’s wrong on this, Carol, let me know!  I can’t believe it!)  So, for my first St. Patrick’s Day, I had to come up with a way to make corned beef.  Because its not St. Patrick’s Day without it.

So, for my first corned beef, I bought a $3 cut of meat ($3! How could I say no?!) and followed this  recipe for Slow Cooker Corned Beef and Vegetables. Always use the slow cooker when you can–I don’t use mine nearly enough.

The corned beef came out great!  The vegetables, as you can probably tell, are pretty well cooked, but they tasted good.  I made some drop biscuits as sides.  As predicted, Brian loved the corned beef.  I’m satisfied for another year (its so good though!)

If you’re not into corned beef, check out these other St. Pats Day posts from around the web:

Serious Eats has been especially busy:

What to Eat and Drink on St. Patrick’s Day

Quiz: How Much Do You Know About Irish Food?

Green Fried Chicken–coated with wasabi!

Chocolate Stout Cupcakes with Irish Whiskey Filling

Irish Whiskey Cake from All We Can Eat

Guiness Milkshake from yumsugar

Nigella’s St. Patrick’s Baking Tip: Just Add Guinness from NPR

Beef and Guinness Stew from Shedding It and Getting It

From mental_floss: The Quick 10: 10 Pats Born on St. Patrick’s Day

10 St. Patrick’s Day Parades

Enjoy what remains of St. Patrick’s Day!

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By Emily, March 14, 2010 5:13 pm

No one’s going to argue with me that my life’s been busier than usual lately.  It’s hard learning and teaching content at the same time, for one thing.  It’s unfortunate though, because then I don’t get to spend time on the other things I love–cooking, blogging and reading (I do love teaching…its just consumed every waking hour of my life last week).

This morning, however, I managed to get my act together early enough before church to cook a really neat looking breakfast I’d seen in Slashfood’s Feast Your Eyes column this week.

The recipe for eggs and mushrooms in Black Forest ham crisps, found on Frim-Fram Sauce’s blog and modified from a Gourmet recipe, was super-simple to adjust to the ingredients I already had.  I used the sliced ham and American cheese that  I bought for Brian’s lunch this week and eggs–3 ingredients!

For something so pretty (and Frim-Fram’s are much prettier than mine), they’re super easy.  And it didn’t require any extra thought to reduce the recipe to just make 4 egg-cheese-ham cups.  If I were you, I’d definitely try this one next time you’ve got a quiet morning.  I’m already looking forward to varying the ingredient combination.

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By Emily, March 3, 2010 7:36 pm

I made up for the past couple weeks of not cooking by spending the better part of the past weekend and yesterday afternoon in the kitchen.  I tried out a bunch of new recipes and had a great time trying some things that were more complicated than my recent fare.

A rundown, with links to recipes where appropriate:

Wine Braised Lentils Over Toast with Kale and Pearl Onions
This was my first try making (or eating!) lentils and it was definitely a success.  Would I make it again?  Absolutely.  Do I need to find more lentil recipes?  Yes, and soon!

Black Bean and Jalapeno Soup
Vegetarian and adapted from a Bobby Flay recipe, this simple soup was pretty delicious, if not a little spicy for my taste.

Cornbread–from scratch! What would I do without How to Cook Everything Vegetarian?

Baked Pasta with Gruyere and Mushrooms
So what if it’s elevated mac-n-cheese?  It was still mighty tasty!  Plus Brian, who’s not a fan of mushrooms, ate it.

I would write more, but I’ve somehow contracted my third cold of the winter.  It’s pretty much kicking my butt.  I was okay over the weekend (hence all the cooking), but last night I was in bed by 7:30.  Plus being sick has dulled my taste buds so much that I can’t taste anything, so that’s uncool. Here’s hoping I’m feeling better soon, for the sake of my students, my sanity and this blog!

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By Emily, February 23, 2010 7:14 pm

Fresh on the heels of my super-yummy polenta casserole (which was less mushy after a couple nights in the fridge), I tried out another never before made (by me) recipe.  Yes, I tried 2 new recipes in one week!  I told you I was returning to the kitchen!  It’s about freakin’ time.

The recipe for Tortilla and Black Bean Torte from Planet Green appeared in my reader last week and sounded like a neat way to make vegetarian Mexican food that isn’t tacos or burritos.  You sandwich a cheese and bean/spice/corn/onion filling between tortillas and bake it in the oven.

Okay, so, this looks kind of like mush too.  But, remember, I specialize in delicious mush.  My tortillas were a little small for the pan so I didn’t fill them to the edge so that contributes to the whole creation being a little sad looking.  Still, the taste was pretty awesome and surprisingly rich and filling.  I adjusted the recipe and only used 1/3 or so of a chipotle pepper–those things are hot!  And I left out the scallions, cilantro, and sour cream because I’m realizing sometimes it’s not worth tracking down ingredients you don’t already have in your cupboard.

Would I make it again?  Absolutely.  I might even tweak it a bit more and see what I can come up with.

When all was said and done, I was left with just 2 questions:

1) Anyone have a fool-proof method for resurrecting dried beans? I soaked mine overnight and then cooked them for a little bit and they came out pretty well, but I still feel like I’m missing something that’s making the whole process more difficult than it’s supposed to be.

2) What should I do with the rest of my chipotle peppers? I’ve still got a half dozen or so in my freezer and they’re so spicy I can’t figure out how to use them up!